1: Verh K Acad Geneeskd Belg. 2003;65(1):5-23; discussion 23-8. [The neuroblastoma, "enfant terrible" among pediatric tumors] [Article in Dutch] Laureys G. Afdeling pediatrische hematologie/oncologie Kliniek voor Kinderziekten C. Hooft-UZ RUG De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Gent. Neuroblastoma belongs to the group of small blue round cell tumors and originates in precursor cells of the sympathetic neural tissue. This tumor occurs at the pediatric age and has fascinated and intrigued both clinicians and researchers because of its variable and often unpredictable clinical behaviour. Indeed, the clinical outcome of neuroblastoma patients not only depends on the clinical extension of the disease, but also on other factors including age at diagnosis, presence or absence in the tumor cells of molecular and biological characteristics with prognostic value (e.g. amplification of the oncogene MYCN, frequently associated with chromosome 1p-deletion is predictive for poor survival chance). In 1983 an abdominal stage 3 neuroblastoma was diagnosed in a 9-months old boy. He died of the disease 3 years later. Karyotyping studies in this patient revealed a constitutional chromosome translocation t(1;17) with a breakpoint involving the terminal part of the chromosome 1p arm. We hypothesized that this patient was predisposed to the development of neuroblastoma because he carried in all his somatic cells a chromosomal abnormality involving the region frequently deleted in neuroblastoma tumor cells. We assumed that the chromosomal translocation breakpoints might indicate the regions harbouring genes involved in neuroblastoma development. A somatic cell fusion experiment was performed between the patient's fibroblasts (the only remaining source of patient material) and a fast growing Chinese hamster ovary cell line to assure the possibilities to perform further research. These somatic cell hybrids indeed contained the human translocation chromosomes. Further characterization of the translocation breakpoints by FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridisation) resulted in the identification of NPPA (formerly PND, the gene for pronatriodilatine) and A12M2 (an adenovirus integration site) as flanking markers for the 1p breakpoint. The 17q breakpoint was located between the NF1 (neurofibromatosis 1) gene and the SCYA7 (harboring the gene encoding the monocyte chemotactic protein-3). Starting from these markers chromosome walking experiments furthered the characterization of the chromosomal breakpoint regions and enabled to identify breakpoint overlapping cosmids. Sequence analysis of these markers is ongoing and will reveal if the breakpoint regions indeed harbour a gene involved in neuroblastoma development. Publication Types: Case Reports Review Review, Tutorial PMID: 12802894 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] --------------------------------------------------------------- 2: Am J Med Genet A. 2003 May 1;118(4):309-13. Homozygous inactivation of NF1 gene in a patient with familial NF1 and disseminated neuroblastoma. Origone P, Defferrari R, Mazzocco K, Lo Cunsolo C, De Bernardi B, Tonini GP. Department of Oncology, Biology and Genetics, University of Genoa, Italy. Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patients are susceptible to tumor development. In the present study we describe a child with NF1 and disseminated neuroblastoma whose death resulted from disease progression. The mother had cafe-au-lait spots suggesting a familial NF1. Neuroblastoma cells showed MYCN amplification and chromosome 1p36 deletion, common features associated with tumor progression in this malignancy. The NF1 gene displayed a germline T --> C transition of intron 14 in both the proband and mother DNA. This mutation, not yet previously described, occurs in a splicing donor site and produces a new mRNA variant observed together with normal NF1 mRNA. Furthermore, the SSCP analysis of the NF1 gene in tumor cells showed a somatic deletion encompassing the intron 26 and 27b of the paternal NF1 allele. Hence, neuroblastoma cells displayed both somatic and germline mutation of the NF1 gene. Our data suggest that, although rare, neuroblastoma in patients with NF1 may display homozygous gene inactivation. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Publication Types: Case Reports PMID: 12687660 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] --------------------------------------------------------------- 3: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2002 Jun;963:74-84. Linkage analysis in families with recurrent neuroblastoma. Perri P, Longo L, McConville C, Cusano R, Rees SA, Seri M, Conte M, Romeo G, Devoto M, Tonini GP. Laboratory of Neuroblastoma Research, Advanced Biotechnology Center, Genoa, Italy. perri@cba.unige Neuroblastoma is a neural crest-derived tumor of childhood with a serious prognosis; only 20% of patients with stage 4 disease survive 5 years from diagnosis. Mechanisms involved in neuroblastoma development are unclear, but the engagement of many neuroblastoma-related gene(s) is suggested by specific chromosomal alterations. Most prominent among these is the amplification of the MYCN oncogene and the deletion of the 1p36 region. Other genetic aberrations have been discovered over the years such as deletions of 11q and 14q and gain of 17q. Although tumor aggressiveness greatly depends on the most frequent genetic abnormalities, to date no neuroblastoma-related gene has been discovered. Neuroblastoma usually occurs sporadically, but 1.5% of all diagnosed cases show familial recurrence with an autosomal dominant inheritance and incomplete penetrance. A comparison between hereditary and sporadic neuroblastomas led Knudson and Strong to gather that the two-hit hypothesis, proposed for retinoblastoma, could be applied to neuroblastoma. To determine if the 1p36 region harbors a predisposition gene for familial neuroblastoma, we carried out linkage analysis at 1p36 loci in two families with recurrent neuroblastoma. Similarly, we analyzed loci of chromosome 16, where a predisposition locus was recently mapped. We also analyzed markers located close to several candidate genes (RET, NF1, GDNF, GFRA1, EDNRB, and EDN3) involved to a different extent in other neurocristopathies. Our findings indicate that the candidate chromosomal regions and genes analyzed are not in linkage with neuroblastoma. PMID: 12095931 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] --------------------------------------------------------------- 4: Eur J Cancer. 1997 Oct;33(12):1953-6. Loss of heterozygosity for chromosome 1p in familial neuroblastoma. Tonini GP, Lo Cunsolo C, Cusano R, Iolascon A, Dagnino M, Conte M, Milanaccio C, De Bernardi B, Mazzocco K, Scaruffi P. Unit of Solid Tumour Biology, G. Gaslini Institute/Advanced Biotechnology Centre, Genoa, Italy. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and deletion of chromosome 1p are very often found in sporadic neuroblastoma. Nevertheless, very few data are available concerning 1p LOH in familial neuroblastoma. Families with recurrent neuroblastoma are rare and analysis of chromosome 1p in these families might give useful information for identifying the putative neuroblastoma suppressor gene. We used combined cytogenetic and molecular techniques to study 1p LOH in two neuroblastoma families. Family M has 2 out of 3 children with neuroblastoma and family C has 2 children, 1 of whom has neuroblastoma and type 1 neurofibromatosis (NF1). All patients of both families showed tumour cells with chromosome 1p deletion (1pdel), but only the patient from family C also had MYCN gene amplification. In all cases the deleted chromosome 1 was of maternal origin. Publication Types: Case Reports PMID: 9516831 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] --------------------------------------------------------------- 5: EMBO J. 1997 Jun 2;16(11):2985-95. Targeted expression of MYCN causes neuroblastoma in transgenic mice. Weiss WA, Aldape K, Mohapatra G, Feuerstein BG, Bishop JM. G.W. Hooper Foundation, and Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0552, USA. The proto-oncogene MYCN is often amplified in human neuroblastomas. The assumption that the amplification contributes to tumorigenesis has never been tested directly. We have created transgenic mice that overexpress MYCN in neuroectodermal cells and develop neuroblastoma. Analysis of tumors by comparative genomic hybridization revealed gains and losses of at least seven chromosomal regions, all of which are syntenic with comparable abnormalities detected in human neuroblastomas. In addition, we have shown that increases in MYCN dosage or deficiencies in either of the tumor suppressor genes NF1 or RB1 can augment tumorigenesis by the transgene. Our results provide direct evidence that MYCN can contribute to the genesis of neuroblastoma, suggest that the genetic events involved in the genesis of neuroblastoma can be tumorigenic in more than one chronological sequence, and offer a model for further study of the pathogenesis and therapy of neuroblastoma. PMID: 9214616 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] ---------------------------------------------------------------